Off-road Northeast Vietnam motorbike tours – Places to visit in Northeast Vietnam

Riding motorbike tour to Northeast Vietnam offers you unbroken forests, misty mountains in Ha Giang, majestic and stunning waterfalls in Cao Bang, and the appealing and poetry natural sceneries in Ba Be (Bac Can). Taking Northeast Vietnam Motorbike Tours, you will get the chance to get off the beaten path with unique and delicious dishes, the breath-taking wild sunflower fields in bloom, and the different cultural identities of various ethnic minorities here.

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How to go to Northeast Vietnam

In case you wish for taking beautiful photos en route, riding a motorbike will be the best idea. However, we suggest this option only when you have a suitable bike or enough riding experience to tackle some tricky off-road, muddy sections. Besides, you should consider taking a fully guided Vietnam motorbike tour. These tours from reputable companies such as BM Travel Adventure will bring a truly remarkable and relaxing journey to you!

The best time to visit Northeast Vietnam

If you want to hunt for the most splendid photos of the ripe rice season in Hoang Su Phi, Xin Man (Ha Giang), you should come in September. In addition, Northeast Vietnam in the remaining periods is also worth traveling and discovering. The watering season is in February and March, and don’t skip the chance to visit the Northeast area in July and August to contemplate the gift of Mother Nature – the green rice fields. Come to Ha Giang (Quan Ba, Dong Van, Meo Vac) in November, you will be ecstatic with the pink Buckwheat fields on the green plateau, stretching from horizon to horizon.

Places to visit in Northeast Vietnam

To explore Ha Giang, you should take Northeast Vietnam motorbike tours to enjoy the marvelous landscapes during the Buckwheat or ripe terraced rice season. In order to take photos of ripe rice fields, you should follow the Hoang Su Phi – Xin Man route during late August or early September. In addition, from February to March or August to September are also the best time to rejoice watering season and ripe rice fields.

On your way to Vinh Quang town (Hoang Su Phi), impressive terraced rice fields at Thong Nguyen village will catch your eyes while taking photos at some villages just near to Vinh Quang town like Ban Luoc, San Sa Ho, Ho Thau, Nam Ty is also interesting experiences for you as well. Moreover, don’t forget to travel over Tien waterfall on Gio mountain pass which is a wonderful waterfall (about 30 km far from Coc Bai town, Xin Man). In case you just have time to come to Hoang Su Phi and Xi Man, 3 days is enough, or about 5 days if you want to come to traverse Bac Ha, Sapa, and Lao Cai – Noi Bai highway.

Another way to explore Ha Giang is to conquer the Lung Cu flagpole, the Northernmost point of Vietnam. It could take 4 days to conquer Ha Giang – Quan Ba –  Dong Van – Meo Vac route. Right after arriving at Ha Giang, you should visit Ha Thanh village (about 7 km far from the center of Ha Giang city) before entering the gateway. On the day before, you should stop to see somewhere more at Dong Van such as Twin mountains (Quan Ba) or Sung La, Pho Cao, Hmong royal palace.

You cannot miss the way to mount Lung Cu, the Northernmost of Vietnam. On the way back to Ha Giang following the Meo Vac route, you could enjoy Ma Pi Leng mountain pass, so-called the Happiness road, which connects Meo Vac to Dong Van. It is named the Happiness road because the ethnic people had to hang themselves on a high, dangerous and sheer cliff edge in order to cut the rock, open this road. You should bear in mind the time of Buckwheat bloom season is in November!

One more must-try journey in Northeast Vietnam is visiting where Uncle Ho lived and worked at Cao Bang, following the Cao Bang- Bac Kan route in 4 days. Beside seeing Pac Bo historical site, don’t miss the time to visit the relic tomb of martyr Kim Dong (about 2 km far from Pac Bo) and also the Ban Gioc waterfall located in between Vietnam and China the biggest and nicest waterfall in Vietnam, just 2 km away from the waterfall is Nguom cave which is as spectacular as Ban Gioc waterfall with its long concrete path and gorgeous lighting have been formed. In Bac Kan, the 5- hour trip exploring Puong cave, Dau Dang waterfall, Tien pond, An Ma temple is a must piece in your journey.

Accommodations in Northeast Vietnam

When arriving in this area, you should make your way to Ha An Hotel or Cao Nguyen Hotel, a three-star hotel in Ha Giang, Thao Nguyen Hotel, a one-star hotel in Yen Minh, Meo Vac Hotel, a majestic three-star hotel on Dong Van Street and Hoa Cuong Hotel, a one-star hotel in Meo Vac Town. Tien Dat Hotel in Hoang Su Phi and Huyen An Hotel and Gia Long Hotel in Xin Man are also highly recommended. One more important thing is that you should make a reservation in advance because there are very few hotels in Ha Giang.

You can easily find two-star or three-star hotels in the inner Bac Kan City such as Anh Thu Hotel, Bac Kan Hotel, and Nui Hoa Hotel. You can also stay right at Ba Be National Park because they provide high-qualified guest houses for tourists and restaurants serving local dishes at reasonable prices there. I am a regular at Hoa Viet Hotel, a two-star hotel, which has well-decorated rooms with great services but no serving breakfast.

Other great options for you are Bang Giang Hotel, a three-star hotel or some two-star hotels such as Huong Sen, Thanh Loan, Giao Te, etc. Besides, you can have an interesting and unique experience near the border when staying at Sai Gon Ban Gioc, a four-star hotel at Ban Gioc Waterfall Resort.

What to eat in Northeast Vietnam

Dishes in Cao Bang that deserve to be included on the tourist culinary trail include Xoi Tram (glutinous rice with Chinese black olive), Khau sli (a cake made from sticky rice), Banh Trung Kien (a type of cake made from the ants’ eggs in April and May), spring rolls, nam khau (grilled pork bacon), Gam river fried catfish, Khao cake, smoking-shelf beef jerky, seven flavors of roasted ducks of Cao Bang, Chongqing chestnut, sour Pho, honey porridge, Day Mot tea (in September and October), Da Hien vegetables with pho, Dong Khe pear, Thang Hen fish, sour bamboo shoots, Bao Lac plums (in March and April). Don’t forget to enjoy Cao Bang pineapples, which you can easily find them as a dessert in any restaurants. Let this sweet fruit add more flavors to your adventure!

The local dishes are a part of the cultural beauty of Bac Kan. So don’t miss the chance to taste at least once in your life the special dishes like a Be sour shrimp, gio cakes, Cooc Mo cakes, khau nhuc (grilled pork bacon), Bo Nam corn wine, and Ba Be grilled fish. Visitors call Ha Giang as the real heaven for food lovers with the unique dishes including au tau porridge, steamed egg rolls, five-color sticky rice, thang co, dried buffalo meat, corn wine, and so on. Besides, Ha Long is known as the birthplace of numerous unique kinds of seafood. You will rarely find these dishes anywhere such as squid pie, grilled oysters, horseshoe crab, peanut worm (sa sung), noodles with shrimp, noodles with ngan (a bivalve mollusk), Van Don geoduck, fermented pork rolls, Tien Yen ca say (ca say is the hybrid of duck and cairina), etc. Come to Ha Long and experience your own food paradise!

Some Gifts From a Northeast Vietnam Motorbike Tour

When coming to Bac Kan, it will be regretful if you skip some famous delicacies like Na Ri vermicelli, smoked sausage, smoking-shelf meat, “ngai” cake, “peng pha” cake, etc. Especially, you will have the opportunity to enjoy a unique specialty of this mountainous area – Quang Thai tangerines. This type of tangerine is very juicy, slightly sour and sweet with an attractive aroma, harvested from August to October.

Cao Bang has quite a lot of delicious and unique dishes, such as “da hien” vegetables, sour bamboo shoots, plums, dried cow meat, Chongqing chestnuts, and so on. You can buy them as gifts for family and friends. Besides, Ha Giang has a lot of mountainous specialties that you should bring it back, for example, corn wine, pork, dried buffalo meat, buckwheat cake, buckwheat seeds, Shan Tuyet tea, sweet oranges of Bac Quang at the end of each year, mint honey in the north pole.

Notes

From June to September, there are usually thunderstorms or floods in Northeast areas. Therefore, it is very dangerous to pass these mountainous roads to reach Ha Giang. In addition, keep in mind that warm clothes are very necessary when you plan to explore the winter here (December – March). If you are interested in off-road Ha Giang motorbike tours, the best option is going to Ha Giang by bus, then renting a motorbike to Dong Van town. En route, you are free to stop and take the most stunning and glorious pictures of natural landscapes.

BM Travel Adventure is a leading motorbike tour operator and motorbike rental in Vietnam. We have operated hundreds of off-road Vietnam motorbike tours, Vietnam dirt bike tours, Vietnam enduro tours annually from north to south (Northern Loop Vietnam, Northeast Vietnam Motorbike Tours, Northwest Vietnam, Vietnam motorbike tours on the Ho Chi Minh trail…), and also motorbike tours to the nearby nations like Laos, Cambodia. We are sure to offer visitors the best places to travel to matching their lifestyle for a fun experience and the best memorial tour.